In anticipation of the release of Cursed Earth, the 12th book in the Kat Drummond Series, Kat’s Crusaders is holding a contest. The first Katverse Sword Design Contest! This is for all you artists, designers, historians and blade obsessed people!
There are many swords in the Kat Drummond Series. Kat’s original online-bought short swords, her dusacks, the enchanted wakizashi, her cutlasses and, above all, Ithalen!
The contest is to draw and design one or multiple of these blades! All appropriate submissions will be featured as fan art on this website. But the best submission will be winning its creator a paperback copy of Cursed Earth, book 12 of the Kat Drummond Series. (This is dependent on shipping limitations. If the winner lives in an area where Amazon cannot ship a book, then an ebook will be provided).
The top 3 winners will also be winning the Arch-Mage title and be put on the Hall of Fame.
Now, the details!
- The submission must be your creation. It can be digital art, a painting, line art, a sketch. Anything!
- You can make as many submissions as you want!
- It must depict one of Kat’s swords from the books. You can include other elements in the artwork to make this more apparent. A generic sword design will not win a lot of points from the judges.
- Attention to detail will win points. Pay attention to the descriptions of the weapons from the books.
- Submissions must all be made by the 14th of May. Winners will be announced by the 21st of May!
Creation Guide
Your submission can be any style and using almost any medium.
It can be:
- A sketch, painting, digital artwork, cartoon, illustration;
- 3D artwork, model;
- Replica, sculpture.
As long as it resembles a qualifying subject, then it’s allowed!
The subject has to be a blade from the Kat Drummond Series. Here are a few examples:
- Kat’s Cheap Swords from the beginning. These can be up to artist interpretation but need to have something that makes them distinctly belonging to Kat. Perhaps a name-tag, runes or actually having a picture of Kat holding them?
- Seax. The seax is a traditional Viking style dagger. Kat uses it to great effect as a back-up weapon and for utility. Maybe have an illustration of the dagger lying next to a monster head?
- Dusack. The dusack is a curved, single-edged short sabre. There are great examples online and plenty of room for artist interpretation. There are two of them, coming as a pair which could be cool to depict in the artwork. The blades are stamped by a quality assurance company called Pure Joy. The stamps are not described and up to the artist.
- Enchanted Wakizashi. The enchanted wakizashi is the shorter variant of the katana. Kat’s is enchanted, bearing runes that harden it and maintain its edge. It does have some distinctive features. The scabbard is lacquered black, and the square-hand-guard bears the symbol of a fist. Past that, the style of runes is up to the artist, as well as the appearance of the hilt.
- Menzies-Forged Cutlasses. These are a pirate staple, with hand-guards ready for enchanting and rune-work that the artist could depict in the submission. They come as a pair, and depicting both in the artwork is a good idea.
- Ithalen: The most iconic sword in the series. A slightly curved, quicksilver blade, shimmering with runes and power. The metal is magical and can take shapes that would normally be impossible on normal metalwork. So be creative! It bears a gilded cross-guard and a katana style grip. Past that, it’s up to artist interpretation! Perhaps incorporate some of its more spectral qualities? Or its origin. This is probably the best subject-matter for your submission!
Submissions will be rated on their adherence to the source material, quality of the artwork, evidence of effort, overall creativity and just how much I like them. Sword experts will be consulted to help with tie breakers.
Submit
You can submit your designs to me on the Kat’s Crusaders FB group, by email, private message or using the contact form below:
SUBMISSION CLOSED
- Title your email as: Sword Contest 2021
- In the message, let me know what sword you are depicting.
Good luck and I can’t wait to see your creations!